Improvement in sewing-machines



3 SheetsSheet l.

I A. HELWIG. SEWING MACHINE.

Patented Jan. 17, 1871.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. HELWIG. SEWING MACHINE.

N0.111,059. Patented Jan. 17,1871.

3 Sheets- 8mm; 3.

A. HBLWIG. SEWING MAGHINEQ No. 111,059. Patented Jan. 17,1871.

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SIMON COLLINS, OF SAME PLACE.

Letters Patent N'o. 11 1,'059, dated J auuary 17, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT INISEWING-MACHINES.

. The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

I, ARTHUR Hnnwre, of London, England, haveinventcd a certain new and improved Stitching and Button-hole Sewing-Machine. ofwhich the following is a specification.

Myinvcntionrclates to a machine wherein the work is performed with a single thread carried by a needle, and secured by means of a hook or looper.

The main object of my invention is to furnish I an.

cfficient and cheap machine forscwing button-holes; and

Thenature'of the said invention consistsin COlll-" billing with .the needle, in a single-thread sewing-machine, having a lateral to-and-fro motion transversely to the direction of the sewing, so that it descends alternately on the inside and outside of the edge of the hole, a vibrating hook -or looper, which operates in connection with the needle for looping the thread in such manner as that the looping of the thread is effected continuously without any derangement of its regularity by the lateral variations in the position of the needle.

Description of the AccompanyingDrawings.-

Figure l is a longitudinal vertical sectionof my improved sewing-machine.

Figure2 is a section on the linear w, fig.. 1.

Figure 3 is a plan of the under side of the said machine.

Figures 4, 5, and 6 show the looper detached.

Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.

A is the frame, supported on the base A, and

B is the cloth-plate.

G is the needle-bar, and

D, the crank-shaft, provided with the crank E for operating the said bar, and also provided with a wheel, F, to which the power is applied in any convenient manner.

In my machine, as in ordinarychain-stitch machines, the thread is carried through the work by the needle (1, and at each descent thereof alo'op is taken by the hook or looper b, and held while the needle in its succeeding descent carries another loop through the first one, the loops or stitches being tightened as the needle ascends. 4

In the said machine the reciprocating action of the needle-bar 0 may be obtained in any convenient and suitable manner which will not prevent or interfere with the additional operation required in applying my invention to the machine. I prefer, however, to form the said needle-bar with a transverse aperture or slot, -O, and to operate the same by the rotating crank E, whose pin E works in the said slot, as shown in fig. 2.

In order that the needle may descend alternately, as hereinbefore specified, on the inside and outside of the edge of the button-hole, it is necessary that the needlebar 0, while being properly supported and guided in suitable bearings, should be capable of lateral movement to such an extent as will produce the required variations in the position of the needle. For this purpose'I support'the said bar in hearings in a forked rod, 0, which is firmly supported upon the frame A, but which is free to slide in its bearings A in the direction of the length of themachine.

The said rod is extended behind its forked portion to the rear of the frame, A, and its end bears against the cam or eccentric d," which is formed or fixed on the shaft 0, and is so'arranged that, when properly adjusted, it gives the rod 0 at-each revolution a to-andfro motion.

It .will thus beseen that the needle-bar O has two motions, each of which is:=ind'epcndent oi the other, the said bar working up and down freely in thebearings c in the forked rode, while the latter moves to andfro across the work, carrying the needle-bar G with it to and between the lines 1 and 2, fig. 1, so that the V needle 0 descends at every alternate stroke on opposite sides of the line of sewing, as required.

In front of the ncedle bar O, and within the front plate or cover f, I place a plate, 9, between which and the said front plate is a spring,'h, and the said spring acts continuously to press theforkcd rod 0 into contact with the cam (l.

The said 'cam is attached to the bevel-wheel i, which gears into the pinion j fixed on the needle-bar shaft 1), or is otherwise connectedwith the wheel F, which communicates motion to the operative parts of the machine.

When it is desired to throw the cam (Z out of connection with the forked sliding'rod c, the said rod, by means of the screw it, can be held in such a position as not to come in contact with the cam, which will then turn without operating the said rod.

This means of adjustment is provided to allow the machine to be used for ordinary or plain stitching, for which it will befound very efiicient.

It is obvious that other devices may be used instead of this screw for adjusting the rod 0, and also that instead of the spring h and plate g above described, a spring otherwise arranged may be employed to keep the rod 0 in contact with the'cam (Z.

The vibrating hook or looper b, which holds the loops of thread while the needle c passes through them, is clearly illustrated in figs. 4, 5, and (i. Fig. 4 shows the front of the looping-point b. Fig. 5 is an edge View, looking in the direction of the arrow 3. Fig. 6 is a back view, looking in the direction of the arrow 4.1 v v The said hook is arranged to vibrate in .a vertical plane at the side of the needle, as clearly shown in ii 3.

T e point 71 of this. hook, or the. portion whereon the surface of the hook, as shown in fig. 3.

fits point downward, as'shown in figsll and 2;

j port the pivot'or axis b of the hook 'inasliding plate the loops are held, is thin triangular piece, with itstace, which lies adjacent to the path of the needle, hollowed out or made concave at b, as 'shown'in figs. 4,5,and6. f q

The hook I is arranged in' such a position that this triangular part b works in'a plane parallel wit-h that of the lateral motion of the needle, and the side ofthe said triangular part occupies a portion of this plane. I l The loops of thread taken from the needle are stretched over this concave portion, and theneedle must descend in this space between the thread and The concavity of the hook must, therefore,,be of a widthequal to or greater than the extreme distance between the lines 1 and 2, fig. 1, (that is, the extreme lateral positions of the needles (1,) so that the latter will at each stroke descen d'within this concave part b As the needle a rises the triangular part I) of the hook b stands in a vertical position, or nearly so, with but in order that the hook shall take the loops from the neethe a. without being affected by the ditferent positions assumed thereby, the said looper must have a motion in such a direction that the point I) of the hook will not fail to enter the loop of thread at each descent of the needle a. y

To give the hook I) this motion I prefer that the center I)", whereon it vibrates, should have'a horizontal to-and-fro motion, and that the vibrations of the hoolo b,should be produced by such motioniI therefore supor bar, I, which is moved to and fro by means of levers Z I, connected with a cam or.eccentric, l, fixed on the shaft e, or by other suitable mechanism.

-The said bar is held by screws 1 passing through the slot 1 I prefer that the looper I) should have a slight lateral vibrating motion as the needle is about to enter a I the loop, and I impart this motion to the looper by making the slot i slightly curved at the end Z as shown in fig. 3. I

The hook b is constructed with an arm, I), to which isattached a spring, at, whereby the said arm is held in such a manner that, as the sliding platel moves away from the needle 11,- the triangular part b of the hook I) is left in a horizonta'l position. In this position, as-th'e sliding plate l-moves forward the hook I) advances toward theneedle a, and, by means of a stop, n, is turned'over into a vertical position, taking the loop from the needle to as the same rises.-

1* is the spring for keeping the lever I in contact with thecanrl. v

- In the machine illustrated in the drawings the feedbar 0 is operated through. the lever 12 by the cam ll, but'this arrangement of parts is' not essential to my 'nvention.

Claim.

Lolaiintas my invention- The vibrating looper 1), co ustructed and operated as described, in combination with a needle, 0, having vertical and late ral motion, both the looper and needle operating together, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth. v

- ARTHUR HELWIG. LL. 3.]

'Witnesscs: 1

' WILLIAM Rom. LAKE,

HARVEY WRAIGHT. 

